It’s happening. The Future Content marketing, that long nurtured and oft-decried “magic bullet” of online marketing, is finally coming of age – moving from the diapers of infancy straight into the pull-ups of toddlerhood so fast, it’ll be asking to borrow the car keys before we know it. With such growth spurts in obvious evidence, brands are eager to know what the next couple of years hold in store for this rapidly developing marketing tool. Here’s a snapshot of how it’s most likely to evolve.
Engagement
ROI measurement tools will start to focus more on engagement. The micro-analysis of website clicks and social media likes will likely recede to make room for a more relevant form of performance tracking that takes into account the ability to create discussions around published content. This is where the real value lies, and as more savvy businesses get hip to this, so will the service providers who offer their services as a tool.
LinkedIn will take the lead as the default B2B marketing tool. If you take a look at the stats, you’ll find out that LinkedIn has morphed into something far bigger that even its creators had in mind. No longer just a platform for the sharing of resume information and industry networking, LinkedIn has become a bona fide news and information distribution source. Its visibility is through the roof, bringing in almost 150 million unique monthly visitors and boasting almost 260 million members. That’s about 50 million less members than the United States has people. With that level of super-exposure, the use of LinkedIn as a tool for business to business marketing (even B2C, for that matter) will become a no-brainer. Those who miss the boat will be sorry it set sail without them.
Mobile First
“Mobile first” will become priority for brands wanting to reach mass audiences. We don’t want to bore you with even more statistics, but in this case it just has to be done. According to stats by Pew Research, 90 percent of adults in the U.S. own cell phones. A whopping 58 percent of those phones are smart phones, a figure that’s sure to grow exponentially as the gulf between old school phone technology and today’s state of the art continues to grow. Not only will developing mobile content be an imperative to reach audiences that are connected on the move, but other stats remind us that the majority of consumers – 61 percent as of last check – develop a more favorable opinion of brands that emphasize a better mobile experience. Stick that in your back pocket (next to your smart phone) and chew it over next time you’re considering if adopting a “mobile first” approach is worth your while. The short answer is: yes.
New Titles
Companies will restructure to make room for entire content departments. A couple of years ago, the market experienced an explosion in the amount of job titles that contained the words “social media expert” in the description. In 2014, that will change as companies move to adapt to the constantly changing landscape of online marketing. We’ll begin to see this in the proliferation of available positions for content marketers, content developers, and content marketing managers – opening up a panorama of freelance marketing opportunities for professionals experienced in the fine art of content creation.
Artisan Talent is a deep repository of information and human resources that will put you in touch with only the most qualified professional marketers and freelance marketing firms. Contact us today to learn more about how you can bring your content strategy to life and reach that all-elusive mass audience.
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Artisan Talent is a Digital, Marketing and Creative Staffing Firm placing talent in jobs perfectly matched with their skills all over the US.
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